Did a 300 mile round trip from Chicago to New Glarus in Wisconsin yesterday and there were parts of the journey that just made me want to trade my car in and get an SL500/SL55.

My car has 5000 miles on it with Pirelli OEM tires. The road noise and the expansion joint "thumps" drove me nuts! Road surfaces were mixed (this being the midwest). Tire pressures are 32F 39R.

Would Continental Sport Contact 2's make an appreciable difference in noise levels and ride, or not be noticable from the Pirelli's?

Any other suggestions?

 

Well I can safely say in terms of road noise that there is little to no difference between the Michelin Pilot Sports that come OEM on some of the 996's and the Conti2's that are OEM. Not sure about the Pirelli's vs. the Conti2's but I can say that the Conti2's definately do make a lot of road noise and handle road expansions rather poorly, but so do all tires of the size of the rear end (285 or 295 width). The roadnoise/expansion joint problem will be a problem with any tire that fits your C4S, its just a matter of the magnitude. I doubt switching your tire will make much of a difference.

 

I think the pirellis are slightly noiser then the contis. I also think the pirellis stick better. Not enough to change.

 

My Conti's (Sport Contact 2's) are fine as far as performance tires go on the road. Sure, when I drive a long ways, I wouldn't mind an SL55, but talk about apples and oranges.

I don't think you'll see much difference, but I have heard that the Conti's are the best road tire for the 996, but they aren't the best on the track. Mine are "OK" on the track, but I know I need better eventually.

 

I will never in my lifetime buy a Pirelli tire again. Those things were the loudest tires ever made.